Sustainable Re-Design of the Built Environment

Dear Colleagues,

The theme of climate change has shifted from being an issue of controversy, and even disbelief, to becoming a fact readily accepted by most people. There is no doubt that in the coming decades, the impacts of these changes will fall over hundreds of millions of people all over the world.

It is also well known that climate change is due to the effects of greenhouse gas emissions, and that these are caused by the burning of fuel fossil resources to produce electricity and other forms of energy that support human life and the modern lifestyle.

The building sector is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and, therefore, re-designing the built environment to adapt it to climate change—and at the same time stop greenhouse gas emissions—is mandatory and urgent.

Energy consumption in buildings and in the built environment can be reduced by 30%–80% using proven and commercially available technologies. Investments in building energy efficiency are accompanied by significant direct and indirect savings which help offset incremental costs, providing a short return on investment. Therefore, buildings offer the greatest potential for achieving significant greenhouse gas emission reductions—at least in terms of cost—in both developed and developing countries.

Aside from energy, there are many more issues that are related to the sustainability of built environments. The building sector is responsible for creating, modifying, and improving the living environment for humanity. Construction and buildings have considerable environmental impacts, consuming a significant proportion of the limited resources of the planet, including water, land, and raw material.

The sustainability of the built environment, construction industry, and related activities is a pressing issue facing all stakeholders in promoting worldwide sustainable development.

This Special Issue of Applied Sciences “Sustainable Re-Design of the Built Environment” aims to cover the recent advances in all of the themes relevant to the development of more sustainable built environments.

Prof. Dr. Luís Bragança
Prof. Dr. Ricardo Mateus
Prof. Dr. Tarja Häkkinen
Prof. Dr. Helena Gervásio
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.